Peterborough well worth the wait

Little Lake in Peterborough's Millenium Park.

When I was a kid growing up in Newmarket, Ontario, I never spent any time in or around Peterborough. My relationship with the city consisted of turning on CHEX-TV to watch a hockey game not on the regular CBC stations or a football game that was blacked out in the immediate Toronto area.

Peterborough was always that place that I was in a hurry to get through or past or around to get to Algonquin Provincial Park and later, Outlet Beach (now Sandbanks) Provincial Park.

My dad and I almost stayed at a fishing marina outside Peterborough one summer trip, but neither of us was much of a fisherman, it wasn't really set up for camping (although there was a place to pitch a tent) so I voted to go to Algonquin instead and off we went.

Learning to carve a canoe paddle with Russ Parker.

Later on, it was that place that Roger Neilson coached (the OHL's Petes) before beginning his NHL career in Toronto with the Maple Leafs. (A street in Peterborough is named after the late icon).

Of course, all of that was before a group of far-sighted individuals established the Canadian Canoe Museum. It also pre-dated the establishment of many of the great provincial parks like Kawarthas Highlands and Petroglyphs Provicinal Parks in the area.

And it was probably before the local dining scene, craft beer industry, wide diversity of independent coffee shops and many of the other aspects of current life that made Peterborough the thriving but very liveable community it is today.

I'm now finally getting the chance to explore the area and everything it has to offer.

Brewmaster Doug Warren serves up some craft beer.

So far, I've spent two days carving a canoe paddle at the canoe museum, followed by a paddle across Little Lake (which boasts its own huge fountain in the middle of the lake). I also enjoyed several fine meals and sampled some of the craft beers mentioned above.

I expect that to continue over the next few days with another visit to the canoe museum (yeah, I'm a canoehead!) a possible river cruise along the Trent River, and more fine dining (Peterborough actually has more restaurants per capita than Toronto).

So in many ways, I'm getting the best of Peterborough, arguably a better experience than I might have had all those years ago as a youngster.

I can certainly appreciate these kinds of enjoyments better than I would have back then.

So from my perspective, I waited until just the perfect time.

Good things really do come to those who wait...

View of the river from the balcony of my hotel room at Best Western Otonabbee Inn.

The Night the Fraser River Became Tropical...sort of

Rollin'...Rollin'...Rollin' down the river...

Like the old Creedence Clearwater Revival song, that's what we were doing on a Saturday night in July, to celebrate the Divine Ms. K's birthday.

We'd boarded "The Native," a restored paddlewheeler operated by Paddlewheeler Riverboat Tours of Vancouver.

This trip - a dinner and a cruise, with a tropical theme - was actually our third with the company. In 2008, we did a trip up Pitt Lake, their "wilderness cruise" (which at the time, was sponsored by the Nature Trust of B.C.); and in 2009, we rolled down the Fraser River one cold Sunday morning and afternoon, to historic Fort Langley and back.

We enjoyed both our previous trips, and each one was a bit different.

This one - officially labelled the "Sunset Dinner Cruise" continued in that vein.

Standing on the gangplank at the New Westminster Quay, waiting for our tickets to be taken, I noticed three women with leis in front of us - and suitcases!

All aboard!

"Boy, they're really getting into this 'tropical cruise" theme,' I said to Ms. K. "They brought suitcases!"

Turns out, they were actually dancers, from a local Polynesian dance group, there to perform in various costumes, in keeping with the theme. The costumes were in their suitcases.

But first things first. Once we pulled out from the dock, we checked out our table and the menu. The drink menu, that is...we already knew what was on the food menu. The drink menu had some special tropical drinks made up specifically for the cruise. Of course, in the interests of this blog, I had to sample them all...

I started with Blue Hawaiian martini (vodka, curacao and juices); followed it up with a "Tropical" (rum, grenadine and other potables) and topped off the pre-dinner cocktail hour with a coconut-pineapple concoction whose most important ingredient was rum.

The appetizers were good, but some of them were almost gone by the time it was announced that they were ready over the P-A system (we were up top, they were serving on the lower deck). But they must have realized their faux-pas, and we had first crack at the main course.

The appies - while not exactly tropical - were good: shrimp, cold veggies and dip, cheese and crackers, candied salmon. Ditto, the main course: not tropical, but we did not go hungry, with choices ranging from roast beef, roast potatoes, roast veggies, veggie or non-veggie lasagna, and salads.

Dessert was two choices of cake: tiramisu and chocolate.

Before and after dinner, we spent time wandering the decks, spotting some seals on a log boom going upriver, then as we turned around to head back downriver, we were treated to a beautiful B.C. sunset.

Then came the post dinner entertainment: The three ladies from the Kalaya Dancers doing a variety of dances in various costumes.

Nothing says "tropical" like Polynesian dance.

This was actually the second time we'd seen them; we went to their annual show in Port Coquitlam the previous summer.

They did a marvellous job, performing without a real stage and just a boom box for music.

Overall, I was a bit disappointed that tour did not put a bit more thought and detail into the "tropical theme." The music they played was just a canned collection of hits from the 60s-70s-80s. Not exactly tropical. Easy to remedy, too - you can walk into any HMV or even London Drugs and pick up some Hawaiian or Polynesian music CD's.

I guess the food could have been more tropical, too. Not real luau type food, but some tweaks could have made it more "tropical." The drinks were a nice touch, mind you.

Aside from the drinks, the table decor and (maybe) a group of guys who were obviously a stag party for one of their group who was getting married, the most "tropical" part of the evening was the dancers. Now I don't expect the cruise to be so tropical that it would have parrots on board, but a few simple things could be done to make it much better.

Tough to beat a sunset like this.

The other part that was a bit disappointing: when I booked it, I told them it was my wife's birthday, and the girl said they would do something - but they never did. I thought it would be looked after, so I didn't mention it to any of the staff. Should have said something on the ship, but hindsight is 20/20.

Doesn't mean I wouldn't go to any more of their cruises ... just not this one. I'd still do the Pitt Lake cruise again, and some of their others that I have not yet done.

And then there is that wonderful sunset...

The theme idea is good, but the presentation/delivery needs a bit of work to really make this "tropical" cruise more, well, "tropical."

I wonder if they're taking volunteers...?


(Want to see more photos from this event? Visit my Facebook page, Sunset Dinner Cruise.)

The day I joined 'the Club'

If that title doesn't make you curious enough to read further, almost nothing will...

You'd have to be a pretty incurious sort to not at least want to find out which club it is I joined - the Playboy Club? The Hair Club for Men (and now Women, I see)? The Press Club? The Rod and Gun Club? The Explorers Club?

While I wouldn't mind joining some of those above-mentioned clubs (and would like avoid a few, if possible), if you guessed any of those, you guessed wrong.

I'm talking about joining ... (drum roll, please!) ...

The Sour Toe Cocktail Club!

Of course, what else, would it be?

I am actually celebrating my second anniversary of having joined that illustrious club, so I figured I should shout it to the world (or at least the Internet!)

For those not familiar with the Sour Toe Cocktail (or without the inclination to click on the link above, because you just can't tear yourself away from my riveting prose!), essentially, it involves taking a shot of your favorite liquor libation which also shares a glass with a (get ready for this) a sour toe - that is, an actual human toe that has been dehydrated and preserved in salt.

And - get this - in order to actually qualify, you have to drink the drink and let the toe touch your lips at some point while drinking.

Like the club motto says, "You can drink it fast, you can drink it slow - but the lips have gotta touch the toe."

Only in Canada, you say ...

The tradition began in Dawson City, in the Yukon Territory. Originally, the toe (the original one thought to have been "donated" by some "sourdough" from the Klondike Gold Rush days, probably one lost through frostbite while mushing down the trail) had to be placed in a beer glass full of champagne in order to be an official, genuine Sour Toe Cocktail.

These days, it's a bit more relaxed, it can be any drink - even non-alcoholic, apparently - but where's the fun in that?

Captain Dick welcomes me to the fraternity.

Now ideally, you would become a member of the club by drinking the cocktail in the Yukon. However, Yours Truly became a member in Vancouver, during the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Like many other tourism boards, Tourism Yukon hosted an event during the Games.

It was at that event I had the opportunity to sit down with Captain Dick, the official head of the club, and became a member of this illustrious group. So in a sense, I was sort of on "Yukon soil," kind of like when you're at a Russian embassy in a foreign country, you're considered to be on Russian soil.


Anyway, I sat beside the captain, and I had a choice of rye whiskey, rum, vodka or tequila to mix with my toe. Sadly, there was no Yukon Jack available, that would have been my ideal choice. But, my second choice was whiskey.



A friend of mine, fellow travel writer Lenora Hayman, stood by to snap a picture of the momentous occasion. However, her camera was not as fast as my quaffing ability - I picked up the drink, belted it back - and she still hadn't got the pic.

So I did the only thing I could - I froze in stop-action mode, holding the glass up to my mouth, the toe resting against my lips, all the liquor drained.

 

For half a second, I toyed with the idea of putting the tip of my tongue on it to really see what the toe tasted like, but common sense quickly overruled that, and the picture was taken. Whew!

It didn't really taste that bad, the whiskey was good, went down quick - and I became a card-carrying club member for life.

By the way, although you get a membership card and certificate, you don't get to keep the toe - you have to give it back.

Now, if you want an opportunity to join this elite group, this would be a perfect year - in fact, this month would be the perfect month to do so. The Yukon is hosting its 2012 Yukon Sourdough Rendezvous Feb. 23-26, to mark the 70th anniversary of the Alaska Highway (also known as the Alcan Highway).

 Snowshoeing, one winter activity you can enjoy in the Yukon.

Even if you can't make that date, a trip to the Yukon at any of the year will give you the opportunity to become a member of the Sour Toe Cocktail Club, as well as providing plenty of other excellent travel adventures, including paddling trips and bird-watching in the summer, or dog-sledding and snowshoeing if you prefer to visit during the winter.

Can't make it? Well, you can always buy Sour Toe memorabilia online - even a chocolate sour toe or two.

But, of course, that won't make you a member of the club ...